Krebs

See also: krebs, and krebs'

English

Alternative forms

(surname): Creps

Etymology

As a German, Alemannic German, and occasionally Danish surname, from the noun Krebs (“crab”).

Proper noun

Krebs (countable and uncountable, plural Krebs or Krebses)

(countable) A surname from German.
A city in Oklahoma, United States

Derived terms

Krebs cycle

Anagrams

Berks, Berks., Kerbs, berks, breks, kerbs

German

Etymology

From Middle High German krebz, krebez, krebeze, from Old High German crebiz, krebiz, from Proto-West Germanic *krabit, from Proto-Germanic *krabitaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (“to scratch”), see also Old Prussian gīrbin (“number”), Old Church Slavonic жрѣбии (žrěbii, “lot, tallymark”), Ancient Greek γράφειν (gráphein, “to scratch, etch”), Dutch kreeft.

The sense “cancer” is a semantic loan from Latin cancer. By metathesis from Ancient Greek καρκίνος (karkínos, “crab”); applied to cancerous tumors because the enlarged veins resembled the legs of a crab.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kʁeːps/ (standard)
IPA^(key): /kʁɛps/ (regionally, chiefly western German)
Audio: (file)
Audio: (file)

Noun

Krebs m (strong, genitive Krebses, plural Krebse)

Declension

Declension of Krebs [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Krebs	die	Krebse
genitive	eines	des	Krebses	der	Krebse
dative	einem	dem	Krebs, Krebse¹	den	Krebsen
accusative	einen	den	Krebs	die	Krebse